Houseruling the Runner's Companion, Tweaking advanced character options. Options

[HappyDaze]

OK, after much complaining about Runner's Companion, I've decided to show some of my personal tweaks. I'll start with a Quality that seems to come up as a point of irritation to all of my players when looking at advanced character options - Distinctive Style.

I like Distinctive Style, really. But, as written I think it's a little off both mechanically and in the all-or-nothing treatment given towards advanced character types. Here's my very minor tweak to make it work better for my game, and I figured I'd drop it here for the usual reason - to get insulted for not following RAW to offer it up for those that might like to try it.

Distinctive Style
Bonus: 5 to 15 BP
A character that takes this negative quality possesses at least one distinctive physical feature or unique mannerism (note that what qualifies as a Distinctive Style may vary from group to group; see the What is a Distinctive Style? Sidebar, p. 104). The quality may represent a unique look, a peculiar fashion sense, a trans- or non-metahuman modification, a unique speech pattern -- anything that makes the character inconveniently attention-grabbing and memorable.

Whatever type of flair the character selects, it must enable other individuals to easily remember him. Any individual who attempts to identify, trace or gain information about him via Legwork receives a +2 dice pool modifier on all tests made during such attempts. The modifier does not apply to astral or Matrix searches. This quality may be taken multiple times by characters that possess multiple distinctive features, with cumulative modifiers. However, the maximum cumulative modifier is +6 dice.

Many of the advanced character options in this book include Distinctive Style. Such characters do not get a BP bonus for any rating of Distinctive Style inherent to the character's type, but may elect to increase the rating (up to the maximum modifier of +6 dice) for the usual BP bonus.

It's a minor change, but it feels better to me than the original. Next I'll be playing with some of the advanced character options, starting with the metavariants.

[Tarantula]

Just as long as you rule that Naga's can't get shiva arms and satyr legs, you can go against RAW this one time. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Muspellsheimr]

Similar to my change. I would suggest altering it to "all attempts to identify, trace, or distinguish from others receive a +2 dice pool modifier".

There is no reason whatsoever that metallic hair makes an infiltrating character easier to spot; the bonus should not apply to perception tests made outside of picking a character out from the crowd. Distinctive Style only has an effect if they can see you, and then only to identify or trace (including Shadowing).

[HappyDaze]

Good call on that. By RAW, Sprites have their Concealment power practically negated by their Distinctive Style and that's just downright stupid.

[HappyDaze]

Here's my take on Trolls and the Troll metavariants. Note that the Impaired and Metagenetic Improvement traits are applied against 1/6 base Attribute values. All BPs add up the same as the base Troll metatype so they are interchangable on that scale. Yes, I am ware that my Trolls have a bit less starting and potential Strength and a bit more potential Charisma than the RAW versions, but it fits what I'm going for a bit better. They are still plenty strong.

Troll (Metatype)
+1 Reach
Custom Sizing Costs
Dermal Deposits
Impaired (Agility)
Impaired (Charisma)
Impaired (Intuition)
Impaired (Logic)
Metagenetic Improvement (Body) 4
Metagenetic Improvement (Strength) 3
Movement Rate 15/35
Thermographic Vision


Cyclops (Troll Metavariant)
+1 Reach
Custom Sizing Costs
Cyclopean Eye
Impaired (Agility)
Impaired (Charisma)
Impaired (Intuition)
Impaired (Logic)
Metagenetic Improvement (Body) 4
Metagenetic Improvement (Strength) 4
Movement Rate 15/35
Thermographic Vision

Fomori (Troll Metavariant)
+1 Reach
Arcane Arrester
Custom Sizing Costs
Impaired (Agility)
Impaired (Intuition)
Impaired (Logic)
Metagenetic Improvement (Body) 3
Metagenetic Improvement (Strength) 3
Movement Rate 15/35
Thermographic Vision

Giant (Troll Metavariant)
+1 Reach
Custom Sizing Costs
Dermal Alteration (Bark Skin)
Distinctive Style 1
Elongated Limbs
Impaired (Agility)
Impaired (Charisma)
Impaired (Intuition)
Impaired (Logic)
Metagenetic Improvement (Body) 4
Metagenetic Improvement (Strength) 3
Movement Rate 15/35
Thermographic Vision

Minotaur (Troll Metavariant)
+1 Reach
Custom Sizing Costs
Goring Horns
Impaired (Agility)
Impaired (Charisma)
Impaired (Intuition)
Impaired (Logic)
Metagenetic Improvement (Body) 4
Metagenetic Improvement (Strength) 3
Movement Rate 15/35
Thermographic Vision
Toughness
Unusual Hair

[HappyDaze]

I've done a slight edit to the Minotaur, dropping Body back down to Troll-standard and adding Toughness. In the exchange I dropped the Poor Self-Control, which suits me fine as I don't like racial behavioral/psychological limiters too much (look forward to not having Vindictive be a hardwired feature of Hobgoblins).

[HappyDaze]

Ork (Metatype)
Impaired (Charisma)
Impaired (Logic)
Low-Light Vision
Metagenetic Improvement (Body) 3
Metagenetic Improvement (Strength) 2
Movement Rate 10/25

Ogre removed to be updated in a newer post.

[redwulf25_ci]

[color="#00FF00"]Ork (Metatype)
Impaired (Charisma)
Impaired (Logic)
Low-Light Vision
Metagenetic Improvement (Body) 3
Metagenetic Improvement (Strength) 2
Movement Rate 10/25

But what does that make the cost? Last time I ran the numbers on making Orcs via the Runners Companions rules they came out with a point value similar to AI's . . .

[HappyDaze]

It costs whatever an Ork does in your game. For most games, this will be 20 BP.

I use the Karma Creation rules but I don't allow the cap on points spent for Attributes to be adjusted by metatype "cost" so I don't really need a BP value on them. I just use BPs in these rebuilds as a baseline in balancing metavariants to the base metatype.

[HappyDaze]

Dwarf (Metatype)
Custom Sizing Costs
Impaired (Reaction)
Metagenetic Improvement (Body) 1
Metagenetic Improvement (Strength) 2
Metagenetic Improvement (Willpower) 1
Movement Rate 8/20
Resistance to Pathogens/Toxins
Thermographic Vision

Gnome (Dwarf Metavariant)
Arcane Arrester
Custom Sizing Costs
Impaired (Reaction)
Metagenetic Improvement (Body) 1
Metagenetic Improvement (Strength) 1
Metagenetic Improvement (Willpower) 2
Movement Rate 8/20
Neoteny

[Cain]

I haven't number crunched them all, yet, but here's one thing I will do: Ban the Day Job Flaw.

I've always banned the Day Job Flaw, and I will continue to do so. I freely admit it's because I, as a GM, have no idea how to cope with it. I can't tell if it's a flaw or an edge, because it gives you money. And if you really play up the time constraints, you end up with a player who's sitting on the sidelines, thinking "This sucks!" and eating pizza.

[TheOOB]

I haven't number crunched them all, yet, but here's one thing I will do: Ban the Day Job Flaw.

I've always banned the Day Job Flaw, and I will continue to do so. I freely admit it's because I, as a GM, have no idea how to cope with it. I can't tell if it's a flaw or an edge, because it gives you money. And if you really play up the time constraints, you end up with a player who's sitting on the sidelines, thinking "This sucks!" and eating pizza.

I allow the flaw, because the way I see it, the time generally isn't the big flaw, it's the attachments it gives you. Much like the dependents flaw, it gives you people who know about the normal you, see you every day, and can be used against you. Not only that it gives you a predictable pattern of movement (you will be here, likely unarmed or lightly armed, on these hours on these days, that kind of predictability is dangerous) and having the flaw means there is a good amount of up-to-date data about you somewhere.

[HappyDaze]

Not only that it gives you a predictable pattern of movement

Unless it's a matrix-only work-from-wherever job that allows you to pick your own hours.

[Captain K]

The best application of the Day Job flaw is probably to make the character less available than the average PC (or unavailable!) when it comes to pre-run legwork and preparation. This makes it a big pain in the ass for Hacker and Investigator builds. The rest of the team is counting on them to help plan for the upcoming run--it's only two days away, and the clock is ticking--but they've got extremely limited time because their development studio is in crunch mode working on the next expansion pack for Rocky Mountain Avatar. As a GM, you can enforce the flaw by limiting the number of tasks the character can accomplish before the run, by assigning dice pool modifiers to an over-worked and under-rested character trying to pull "double shifts" (one legit shift at work and another "shadow shift" in the streets/on the Matrix), or both.

It works the same as any negative quality, really--if you don't enforce it, it amounts to free Build Points.

[Cain]

I allow the flaw, because the way I see it, the time generally isn't the big flaw, it's the attachments it gives you. Much like the dependents flaw, it gives you people who know about the normal you, see you every day, and can be used against you. Not only that it gives you a predictable pattern of movement (you will be here, likely unarmed or lightly armed, on these hours on these days, that kind of predictability is dangerous) and having the flaw means there is a good amount of up-to-date data about you somewhere.

That presumes the character has the SINner edge, or at least a good fake one, for the job to be attached to. Then, when someone tracks you SIN, they can find out where you live and what you do. I've recommended that people take Dependents instead, with a tweak or two to make it work.

The best application of the Day Job flaw is probably to make the character less available than the average PC (or unavailable!) when it comes to pre-run legwork and preparation. This makes it a big pain in the ass for Hacker and Investigator builds. The rest of the team is counting on them to help plan for the upcoming run--it's only two days away, and the clock is ticking--but they've got extremely limited time because their development studio is in crunch mode working on the next expansion pack for Rocky Mountain Avatar. As a GM, you can enforce the flaw by limiting the number of tasks the character can accomplish before the run, by assigning dice pool modifiers to an over-worked and under-rested character trying to pull "double shifts" (one legit shift at work and another "shadow shift" in the streets/on the Matrix), or both.

Many of those extended tests are measured in hours, not days. Availability tests for pricey gear and programming are the major ones I can think of, plus Spirit Binding. And, as far as programming goes, you can run your programming suite while you work your day job as a Microsquish tech. The same applies to most any job that's defined under what the character wants to do.

Also, you're presuming no Long Haul or Sleep Regulator, or even a Suprathyroid. Any or all of those could remove the need for sleep. Heck, addiction: stim patches can work-- I drink too much caffeine, so I'm up at this godsawful hour, playing on Dumpshock.

It works the same as any negative quality, really--if you don't enforce it, it amounts to free Build Points.

I'm not sure how to enforce it fairly. That's why I disallow it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

[Captain K]

I think Day Job pretty much bans itself, for all intents and purposes, if the player can expect realistic enforcement of the quality. As we're discussing, being predictable, having ties to the legit world, and other stuff related to a regular job are extreme vulnerabilities for any shadowrunner.

[HappyDaze]

Updating the Ogre with a nod to Shrek.

Ogre (Ork Metavariant)
Impaired (Agility)
Impaired (Charisma)
Impaired (Logic)
Low-Light Vision
Metagenetic Improvement (Body) 3
Metagenetic Improvement (Strength) 3
Movement Rate 10/25
Ogre Stomach
Reduced Sense (Smell)
Reduced Sense (Taste)
Scent Glands

Now the ogre is stonger (increased Strength) but more bulky (reduced Agility) and it has the characteristic unpleasant odor notable in Shrek. The pair of Reduced Sense negative qualities are actually a blessing among ogres, allowing them to largely ignore the odor of other ogres' Scent Glands and to eat just about anything when filling up that Ogre Stomach. Note that each Reduced Sense is pointed at the equivalent of 5 BP, which is half what hearing and vision would be, since metavariant/changeling-linked versions are neurological by default. I don't expect that this ogre will be too popular among players, but that's really the point - I only want it to be played by those that really want an unusual character, not merely an ork with the added benefit of a strong stomach and smooth skin (although it still has both of these features).

[raggedhalo]

I enforced Day Job by making the character who had it take lots of Long Haul to get their hours in at work...

[HentaiZonga]

Giant (Troll Metavariant)
+1 Reach
Custom Sizing Costs
Dermal Alteration (Bark Skin)
Distinctive Style 1
Elongated Limbs
Impaired (Agility)
Impaired (Charisma)
Impaired (Intuition)
Impaired (Logic)
Metagenetic Improvement (Body) 4
Metagenetic Improvement (Strength) 3
Movement Rate 15/35
Thermographic Vision

This looks almost exactly like the version we use. We keep Trolls (and Formori) at 10 Bod / 10 Str though, and have Giants at 11 / 11, Minotaurs at 11 / 10, and Cyclops at 10 / 11. We have the Ork baseline at 8 / 8 instead of 9 / 8 though.

Here's our list:

CODE

BP Race Bod Str Agi Rea Wil Cha Log Int Edg Racial Abilities & Disadvantages
0 Human 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 7 (10) None
25 Nartaki 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) Four Arms, Unusual Color
30 "Furry" 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 7 (10) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) Satyr Legs, Balance Tail, Unusual Hair
50 Ganesha 7 (10) 7 (10) 5 (7) 5 (7) 7 (10) 6 (9) 7 (10) 6 (9) 5 (7) Proboscis, Goring Horns, Rhino Skin, +1 Reach
30 Elf 6 (9) 6 (9) 7 (10) 6 (9) 6 (9) 8 (12) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) Low-Light Vision
50 Dryad 5 (7) 5 (7) 7 (10) 6 (9) 6 (9) 9 (13) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) Low-Light Vision, Glamour, Domain Empathy
35 Night One 6 (9) 6 (9) 7 (10) 6 (9) 6 (9) 8 (12) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) Low-Light Vision, Allergy (Sunlight), Unusual Color
35 Wakyambi 6 (9) 6 (9) 8 (12) 7 (10) 7 (10) 8 (12) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) Low-Light Vision, +1 Reach
40 Xapiri Thepe 6 (9) 6 (9) 8 (12) 7 (10) 7 (10) 8 (12) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) Low-Light Vision, Photosynthesis, Camouflage
20 Dwarf 7 (10) 8 (12) 6 (9) 5 (7) 7 (10) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) IR Vision, Toxin Resistance
30 Gnome 6 (9) 7 (10) 6 (9) 6 (9) 8 (12) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) IR Vision, Neoteny, Magic Resistance
35 Harumen 6 (9) 7 (10) 7 (10) 6 (9) 7 (10) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) Low-Light Vision, Prehensile Tail, Monkey Paws
25 Koborokuru 7 (10) 8 (12) 6 (9) 5 (7) 7 (10) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) IR Vision, Unusual Hair, Celerity
25 Menehune 7 (10) 8 (12) 6 (9) 5 (7) 7 (10) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) Underwater Vision, Unusual Hair
10 Ork 8 (12) 8 (12) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) 5 (7) 6 (9) 6 (9) Low-Light Vision
15 Goblin 7 (10) 7 (10) 7 (10) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) 5 (7) 6 (9) 5 (7) Low-Light Vision, Bad Vibe
25 Ogre 9 (13) 8 (12) 6 (9) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) 5 (7) 6 (9) 5 (7) Low-Light Vision, Toxin Resistance
15 Oni 8 (12) 9 (13) 6 (9) 6 (9) 7 (10) 5 (7) 5 (7) 6 (9) 5 (7) Low-Light Vision, Unusual Color
20 Satyr 7 (10) 8 (12) 7 (10) 6 (9) 5 (7) 6 (9) 5 (7) 6 (9) 5 (7) Low-Light Vision, Satyr Legs, Celerity
40 Troll 10 (15) 10 (15) 5 (7) 6 (9) 6 (9) 4 (6) 5 (7) 5 (7) 6 (9) IR Vision, +1 Reach, Dermal Deposits
45 Cyclops 10 (15) 11 (16) 5 (7) 6 (9) 6 (9) 4 (6) 5 (7) 5 (7) 5 (7) IR Vision, +1 Reach, One Eye
45 Fomori 10 (15) 10 (15) 5 (7) 6 (9) 6 (9) 5 (7) 5 (7) 5 (7) 5 (7) IR Vision, +1 Reach, Magic Resistance
55 Giant 11 (16) 11 (16) 5 (7) 5 (7) 6 (9) 4 (6) 4 (6) 4 (6) 5 (7) IR Vision, +2 Reach, Toughness
50 Minotaur 11 (16) 10 (15) 5 (7) 6 (9) 6 (9) 4 (6) 5 (7) 5 (7) 5 (7) IR Vision, +1 Reach, Goring Horns, Satyr Legs

[kzt]

Did they ever clarify the karma gen rules that say that being a variant is both expensive and free? One paragraph says you pay twice the BP in Karma, the other paragraph says it's free and allows you to buy more stats....

[Heath Robinson]

You add twice the BP cost of your metatype to your attribute expenditure limit. That's what it says.

[kzt]

You add twice the BP cost of your metatype to your attribute expenditure limit. That's what it says.

Until you get to the paragraph about 3 after that, where it says it doesn't cost anything, but you are supposed to keep track for step 3.

[Heath Robinson]

Playing a metatype costs nothing by itself. You increase the amount of karma you're allowed to spend on attributes by twice the BP cost of your metatype, though. Under the assumption that you need to cover the extra costs of increases in your good attributes.


Another way of saying it:

Let A be the amount of karma you spend on Attributes
Let L be your Attribute expenditure limit
Let K be your starting karma
Let M be the metatype cost in BPs

A <= L

L = 0.5K + 2M

[HentaiZonga]

We also tend to adjust the Karma costs, as follows:

Knowledge Skill - 1x new level (including first)
Active Skill - 2x new level (including first)
Skill Group - 5x new level (including first) if all skills are at same level; 3x new level if one skill in the group is already at or above the new level; 1x new level if two skills are both at or above the new level.
Attribute - 5x new level (up to racial base is free)
Attribute pair - 8x new level (Body-Strength / Agility-Reaction / Intuition-Logic / Charisma-Willpower) if both attributes are at the same level; x3 to raise the lower attribute if one is already higher than the other.

Race & Magic - 1x BP
Qualities - 2x BP
Gear, Nuyen & Lifestyle - 1 per 5,000¥

Maximum Expenditures:
Race & Magic - N/A (since you only pick one of each)
Attributes - 67%
Qualities - 5%
Skills - 50% (Skill max = 6; Skill group max = 4)
Gear - 10%

An 'average' character in this system costs 1,000 Karma, since Attributes are roughly twice as expensive.

[JeffSz]

I'm curious to know why these changes are being houseruled - I just got runner's companion and I've not run any of the variant character types yet.